NEW ORLEANS (press release) – “Sunsets in the West” by artist Raven Halfmoon is the newest installation to be featured along the Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition presented by The Helis Foundation. Heavily inspired by her Indigenous roots, Halfmoon’s work often features themes and techniques passed down generationally through her family. “Sunsets in the West,” located on the neutral ground between Tchoupitoulas and South Peters Street (across from Piazza d’Italia and Le Meridien Hotel), reflects the colors and concepts of Western life through an Indigenous experience.
Combining Caddo pottery techniques with populist gestures, “Sunsets in the West” is a colossal torso-like sculpture crafted from glazed stoneware. As part of a larger exhibition, its vibrant hues mirror the sunsets of the artist’s home in Norman, Oklahoma. Halfmoon hand built this piece using a coil method, creating expressive surfaces embellished with deep finger impressions and dramatic dripping glazes. This captivating piece not only celebrates the natural beauty of her heritage but also reflects her interpretation of the American West.
A graduate of the University of Arkansas, Halfmoon focuses primarily on portraiture taking inspiration from Indigenous pottery, Moai statues and Land Art to explore themes of tradition, history, gender and personal experience. Her work is often nod to Caddo tattooing, highlighting the significant pride she has in her Indigenous heritage. By repeatedly stacking imagery, she creates totemic structures symbolizing herself and her maternal ancestry, further emphasizing her feminist lineage and its profound complexities.
Halfmoon’s work has been showcased in exhibitions across the U.S. and internationally. Her current solo exhibition, “Flags of our Mothers,” is traveling to museums across the United States. Additionally, her sculptures are part of the permanent collections at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, and the Montclair Art Museum. In 2023, she was selected as an Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellow, and in 2024, she was a finalist for the international Loewe Craft Prize.
The Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition (PCSE) is the south’s leading rotating public sculpture exhibition spanning Poydras Street between Convention Center Boulevard and South Galvez. Since its founding, PCSE has featured over 40 sculptures with 14 currently on view by renowned local, regional, and international artists. The Helis Foundation, in collaboration with Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the City of New Orleans Department of Parks and Parkways, is the exhibition’s sole funder. Together, they aim to bring interesting and inspiring sculptures to the residents and visitors of New Orleans.
Sunsets in the West is the fourth sculpture following ViVa (& the whole garden will bow) by Anatasia Pelias, Poydras Corridor Polyhedra by Matt Scobey, Monumental Deity XX by George Dunbar and Parade by Wyatt Kahn to be installed along the Poydras corridor in 2024.
For more information, follow PCSE on Facebook and Instagram, or visit TheHelisFoundation.org.
